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Minister of Finance: 2019 Will Be Difficult Year for Algerians

Algerian Minister of Finance, Abdurrahman Rawia, announced that 2019 would be a financially difficult year for Algerian citizens. However, he reassured the Algerian people that the authorities would maintain the policy of social support, describing such a policy as “an irreversible choice”.

Rawia stressed during an information day on the Financial Act of 2019, organized on Monday (7 December) in Al-Aurassi Hotel, that the Algerian state will sustain its social support program which is “an irreversible choice,” adding that this year’s finance law is designated to preserve the country’s grand financial balances through the endorsement of developmental projects and upholding financial resources.

He added that the government had set a basic goal for the year 2019, which is to boost the national economy and to protect Algerians’ purchasing power. Rawia pointed out that this year’s Finance Act did not impose new tax burdens on citizens, unlike other finance legislation which has been ratified during the past three years after the collapse of oil prices.

Rawia took the chance to defend the 2019 Finance Act, which came into effect, stressing that the finance law has embodied the financial orientations adopted by the government, namely, to promote exports other than oil and related products, and to support national companies in the public and private sectors.

The same strategy will be maintained to endorse local institutions to protect local products by introducing some facilitative measures, i.e. to grant large tax exemptions.

Correspondingly, Rawia acknowledged the deficit recorded last year and presented the figures that make it difficult to deal with the current crisis. Meanwhile, the finance minister cited official government indicators, including the inflation rate, which is currently stable at the normal limits of 4.5%.